Thunder And Blood
by happyday girl
Summary: One-shot. Loki is reading one night when thunder interrupts him; intent on stopping his brother from driving him mad he sets out to look for him, unaware that something it waiting for them in the forest. Hurt!Loki and Protective!Thor. First ever Thor fic, please read and review!


**Hello! So, this is my first ever 'Thor' fic- I really hope you enjoy it!**

**This is set before the film, so before Loki knew of his true heritage.**

**Onwards….**

Loki glanced up at the first clap of thunder. Brother must be in a foul mood tonight, he thought with a quirked eyebrow, as peal after peal of loudness coursed through the palace, accompanied by a ferocious wind and the patter of rain.

From the closeness and intensity of the sound, Loki would have guessed Thor was near- probably in the large courtyard that was unfortunately positioned right outside his own bed chamber.

Sighing, the God of Mischief flung his legs off the side of the arm of his chair, where for the past hour he had been reading up magical lore- one of his more peaceful pastimes. The fire had been growing dim, but he was too engrossed to do anything about it- the flame was nearly out as he crossed to the window, opening it and letting rain hit his face.

He craned his neck, trying to pinpoint his brother. Thor, as large as he was, had the uncanny gift of just _disappearing _when he was in one of his moods, and it made him quite hard to spot- the fog and enveloping darkness of the storm was one of the things Loki hated when this happened.

Another clap of thunder, and this time Loki jumped, completely unready for it. 'For pity's sake…' he muttered, now growling in the back of his throat as he pushed himself away from the window and made for the door- he would tell Thor where to stick those pent up feelings….

Crashing open door after door, ignoring anyone in his path, he finally made it to the door.

Upon inspection of the courtyard Loki could see that Thor wasn't actually where he thought he was; he was outside the confines of the palace, completely oblivious to anything going on.

Sighing, Loki rolled his eyes and started walking, carefully picking his route around the clumps of mud and fast-engorging puddles. Once or twice he had to physically jump over one, for fear of stepping right into the middle of the damn thing.

'Thor!' he called, the rain plastering his hair to his face and blowing into his mouth when he opened his mouth to talk. 'Thor!'

The God in question was standing on a hill, swinging Mjolnir around like his life depended on it- that hammer had a lot to answer for, huffed Loki as he made his way up the hillside.

He was very wet and very annoyed by the time he reached his brother's side. Thor was still unaware that he now had company- his eyes were closed, his mouth in a small, concentrated line on his face.

Loki waited for a few seconds, just waiting to see how long it took for his brother to notice he was beside him. Rolling his eyes, he growled again- 'Am I interrupting something?!' he yelled, pushing Thor's shoulder a little to jar him.

The largest clap of thunder that Loki had ever heard echoed around the hillside- he crunched his eyes up at the sound, distaste on his face as the storm stopped.

Thor looked round, their eyes meeting. 'Having fun?' Loki asked coolly, wrapping his arms around himself as the rain petered out.

'Loki, what are you doing here?' his brother asked, stepping backwards as if alarmed.

'Asking you to stop the water works- no one can get any sleep with this noise.'

'I woke you?'

'No, I was reading- there was a leak in my roof, and you were getting the pages wet.' Loki replied, watching as the large black storm clouds started to move away.

'I apologise- I have had a trying day.'

'Really? I never would have guessed….' Loki answered, lips curling into a smile.

Thor returned the smile, and they both shook their heads ruefully. 'Sorry, brother.' Thor repeated, and he pushed Loki in the shoulder as a sign that they should walk down the hill together.

'No need to apologise to me, I don't mind it- it's oddly comforting.' Loki muttered, before frowning to himself- did he really just say that? He must be tired.

'Really? Maybe I should do it more often.' Thor chuckled, before he frowned as Loki growled in his throat.

'I was being sarcastic, you dolt.' Loki insulted his brother to cover his misgivings, and his unfortunate lapse of emotion-holding.

'Oh. Well, whatever…' Thor was too tired to argue.

'Hmm.' Loki muttered, shaking his head. They walked in silence from then on, taking the long way round back to the palace. This route took them through a small area of woodland, almost just a crop of trees. The ground was sodden, and the leaves squelched underfoot.

'See what your storms do?' Loki commented, pointing to the flooding ground. 'Exactly how trying was your day?'

Thor chuckled, and Loki couldn't help but join in- sometimes, just being around his brother was enough for him to forget things for a while.

Thor put a hand on his shoulder as they walked, 'Not nearly angry enough, it would seem!'

'Well, how wo-'they both stopped as a branch snapped behind them.

'Probably an animal.' Loki reasoned, hardly worried.

Thor however, didn't seem convinced. 'I went hunting this morning; there was hardly anything out here….'

'Well, you know what your hunting is like- they probably heard your heavy breathing and bolted, I-'

'Hush!' Thor silenced his brother with a look. Loki stepped back; eyebrow arched, but didn't utter another word.

The forest was unnervingly eerie, Loki had to agree, but that didn't mean they were in trouble- he fought with the urge to just walk off, but Thor was already marching towards the sound, Hammer in hand. He had better stay, he supposed, if only to laugh when something furry on four legs bolted from the trees.

He watched as Thor bent low, arm raised, ready to attack. Rolling his eyes for what seemed like the tenth time, Loki crossed his arms around his chest, putting the weight onto the balls of his feet.

Suddenly, something did bolt from the trees- but it was no timid deer.

A large, ferocious looking wolf burst from the bushes, catching Thor unawares and sending him harshly to the left, off balanced.

Loki's eyes widened as it careered towards him; he barely managed to side-step out of its path.

Blowing air through his teeth, Loki thought the battle over- but instead of running in the opposite direction, the wolf turned, its own eyes wide and mad.

It was most certainly rabid, Loki surmised, and just his luck too. From the look of the bones sticking through its pelt, and the foam around its large jaws, he guessed it had been alone and unchallenged for a long time- trust them to chance upon it while alone.

'Loki, come toward me…' Thor instructed him, but Loki just….couldn't. His eyes were locked on the beast, and he couldn't move a muscle- he knew he should do as his brother said, but he also knew if he took his eyes off the creature it would take his movements as a challenge and start attacking.

'Brother!' Thor hissed, hammer in hand.

The wolf growled deep in its throat, ducking its head close to the ground, teeth bared, advancing slowly.

Eyes wide, Loki started to back away. At any moment the beast could pounce, and he didn't fancy being in its trajectory when it did decide to start forwards.

The wolf regarded him with a blue-eyes intensity that made his blood run cold. It was as though the beast could see right into his soul.

As what happens when you back away without looking, Loki suddenly pitched backwards, his feet catching in a large tree root behind him. He yelped in surprise, arms flailing, before falling onto his back.

The wolf wasted no time in its attack. The beast charged, head down, towards him- Thor rushed to stop it from coming near his brother, but the wolf barrelled into him, spinning him to the floor, dazed.

Scrambling backwards, Loki desperately tried to stand up to defend himself, but the wet mulch on the floor was preventing his boots getting any purchase on the ground, and he kept slipping to the forest floor. The beast pounced, its huge paws batting at his legs, the claws catching his skin and ripping the material of his trousers; he felt warm blood trickle down his leg. Moving onto his stomach, Loki tried crawling- an undignified approach, he knew, but he was truly out of options.

The wolf was having none of it, and with a deep growl it jumped onto the God's back, its claws and teeth ripping anywhere it could find.

Yelping in pain Loki turned, using his legs to kick the wolf's stomach and head- he possessed great strength, and he thought it was about time he used it. The wolf's head snapped to the side at the new, unforeseen attacks upon it. Its answer was to step up its own attack, refreshing it anew, with blood on its mind.

Eyes wide, Loki had the feeling he was fighting a losing battle. The wolf didn't seem to be stopping its onslaught, and his own strength was draining from him.

The beast suddenly omitted a high pitched whimper, and was suddenly moved backwards, its claws trailing for the last time down Loki's face. Loki cried out, hands on his cheeks as he felt blood run down them, and was therefore unable to see Thor had grabbed the wolf's tail, and had pulled him back from his body in one movement.

Seconds later, a shadow fell upon him; he looked up to see his brother standing in front of him, Mjolnir raised in deft hands. The beast lunged once more, and Thor swung his hammer in an arc, catching its snout and throwing it to the ground with a whimper, where it shuddered, whined, and lay still.

Silence descended back into the moonlit forest. The only sounds were two sets of haggard, out of breath Gods, both looking at the corpse of their foe.

'Well, wasn't that exciting?' Loki commented drily, wiping his bloodied hands on the ground beside him.

Thor looked down, holding out a hand. Loki took it gratefully, naturally gravitating to his brother's side as he stood, more than a little bruised.

Thor inspected his brother, taking in the cuts and blood. 'Relax,' Loki muttered as his brother's face took on a concerned expression. 'It'll heal in a minute.'

Thor nodded tersely, knowing full well that his brother was right- even now, the cuts were becoming less deep, leaving angry looking bruises in its wake.

Loki wiped the excess blood away from his face, mouth turned upwards with distaste. 'See?' he said, holding out his hand for his brother.

'Let's go home.' Thor muttered, shouldering his hammer and pushing Loki in his lower back to get him to move.

With one last look at the wolf, and his own blood still on its dead claws, Loki allowed himself to move, and together he and his brother made their way back.

Just outside the door, and before they made their different routes to bed, or wherever it was that Thor went to when he had ill feelings, Loki stopped him.

'Back there, I could have got that wolf.' He started, angry eyes settling on his brother. 'I could have killed it.'

'Oh yes, whilst underneath it, being ripped to shreds.'

'That's not the point- I could have done it, b-'

'Relax, Loki, I will tell no one abo-'

'-Will you not let me finish?' Loki retorted. 'I'm trying to say thank you!'

Thor blinked, and Loki allowed himself a smile. 'I know it doesn't happen often, and you should be feeling blessed at even receiving this one.' He muttered, crossing his arms once more.

Seconds passed in silence. The two of them looked at each other, awkwardness setting in.

'Well?' Thor broke the silence.

'Well what?'

'Where's this apology then?'

'Oh all right…..Thank you, Thor, for helping me.'

'_Helping_ you?' Brother I-'

'-Alright, thank you for saving me….happy?' Loki growled, rolling his eyes.

Thor chuckled, his hand reaching up and grabbing the side of Loki's face in the way he was so fond of doing. 'More than you could imagine…..' he grinned, before stepping backwards and turning to walk up the corridor. 'See you in the morning, Loki….' He called back.

Loki watched him go, eyebrow quirked once more. Shaking his head ruefully, he made his own way back to his room, throwing open the door and pulling off his tunic.

Too restless to sleep, his decided to sit, bare-chested, in his chair by the surprisingly renewed fire to finish his book.

He always knew Thor's thunderstorms always presented ill-tidings; granted he didn't know it would be in the form of a rabid wolf, but he did grant himself one promise-

Next time Thor was in one of his moods, he was best left to it by himself.

**Any good? I really hope you liked it!**

**Thank you for reading, and please review!**

**Xxx **


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